I’m excited to announce my latest short film, Settling Up, will have its film festival premiere at Lighthouse International Film Festival, one of MovieMaker’s “Coolest 25 Film Festivals in the World.” The festival will take place June 6-9 on Long Beach Island and stay tuned for screening info. Thanks to our cast and crew for all of your hard work and we hope to see you there!

I’m excited to announce my short film Maddie premieres online today on Film Shortage! Huge thanks to our cast and crew that worked so hard to bring this project to life, and to all of you that supported our film. Please consider sharing, leaving a comment, and/or liking on Vimeo. After watching the film, you can read my director’s statement to learn more about the inspiration and backstory. I recommend watching the film with good sound if possible.

There once was a time when I thought making this film would be impossible. I learned so much through the process and that ultimately anything is possible with the right team, hard work, and dedication. To my talented cast and crew, it was an honor working with you and making this film together.

I'm so excited for the LA premiere of my film Maddie next week at the Marina del Rey Film Festival. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into this film and many of you know that this is a very important, personal story that is near and dear to my heart. Please come out and support our talented cast and crew. We look forward to sharing it on the big screen out west and hope to see you there.

I had a blast premiering my film, Beauty, Balance, and Grace, at the Paris Short Film Festival. It was truly a memorable and special experience to share my film on the big screen at such a historical cinema in Paris. And some of my friends from California even made it out to the screening! It was wonderful to connect with the other filmmakers and watch their inspiring and moving films. It was well worth coming out and I hope to be back soon. I definitely walked away feeling inspired and empowered to create.

I’m currently in preproduction for a film I hope to shoot before leaving for Berlin this summer, and will be submitting to festivals in 2017. Stay tuned…

KP: Thank you Reuben for taking the time to answer some questions for us. Your film is very unique. What inspired you to film this exotic short?RH: I had a strong feeling that visiting Antarctica, my final continent, would be a significant life experience. I wanted to memorialize the journey in a special, meaningful way. I was inspired by Ron Fricke’s time-lapse work in Samsara, and the one second a day sequence in the movie, Chef.

KP: The film shows NYC, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Antarctica. Why did you choose those five locations?RH: The film begins and ends in NYC, which is where I live now. Argentina is where we embark on the Antarctic expedition ship, and I also wanted to visit the Salar de Uyuni (salt flats) in Bolivia, and photograph the Milky Way rise above the Atacama Desert in Chile, one of the driest places on earth.

KP: Of all the vast landscapes of these five diverse countries how did you narrow it down to two minutes?RH: It was incredibly challenging to film every single day, especially on the boring days where not much was happening, such as travel days or days at sea. I really had to reach and try and find beauty in the mundane, and editing it down to just one second a day was extremely difficult. There are a lot of beautiful shots that didn’t make the final cut.

KP: What do you want the audience to get from this beautifully shot short? RH: There is beauty everywhere, even in the mundane. Antarctica, the largest wilderness area in the world, transformed and forever changed me. Never in my entire life have I been in such close proximity to so much wildlife and such raw, untouched beauty. It humbled me because it is like no other place on earth. I hope these images will have a lasting impact and inspire others to protect and safeguard the future of our planet.